Dr. Mirage!

[pixierosa]

This looks super lame. I think most people didn't exactly love the VH1 of Dr.Mirage so they have no trouble with them just remaking it. Honestly I enjoyed it and the dynamics with his wife was great character development. How would anyone feel if they just started changing other characters at launch such as Bloodshot, or Archer.

I agree. Changing characters, even characters that I never had a connection to, is something that cheeses me off. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the ocassional costume change or new power, but changing a character's gender is going too far. If Valiant wants a strong female lead, they either need to concentrate on characters like Sandria Darque and Erica Pierce or create new female characters. Changing a character's race or gender always seems like pandering to me. The problem is that most people here can't see past the boobies.

I don't want a rehash of the original Valiant. I did read the original Mirage and enjoyed it, but it doesn't matter to me if Mirage is male or female. While I agree that Dr. Mirage's look is too booby-licious, I have no problem with her being the main character. That said, why do we even need to have the same old characters? In some circumstances it's warranted, but new characters would be refreshing.

And I think there's plenty of people who can't see past Sandra Darque always walking around naked or Erica and her see-thru jumpsuit. Really Valiant? If anything, it's time for a strong woman who is confident enough in her own sexuality that she doesn't have to dress like a "people of Walmart" star.

Otherwise, I'm going to have to start demanding that Jack or Bloodshot start showing up nekkid. Fair is fair.

[Burrito Boy]

The characters don't have to be rehashed. There are plenty of things that can be done to a character to make them new and interesting short of a gender change. Once you change a character's race and/or gender, the character isn't that character anymore. You might as well just come up with a new character.

I don't know, maybe this cheeses me off more than other people because I'm a writer--albeit unpublished--and I'd hate it if someone tampered with one of my creations.

And like I said before, it seems like pandering. Marvel did it in the movies by making Kingpin and Nick Fury African American. Then they did it by making Spider-Man a kid who's African American and Latino. Now Valiant is making Dr. Mirage a woman, repeating what was done to Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica. But why? I think the companies are trying to include minorities, which I appreciate, and widen their audience, which I understand. But they're doing it in a lazy way. Instead of creating new, unique characters who are African American, Latino, female, etc., they're throwing those groups scraps by changing existing characters. Being half Mexican, I would prefer a new superhero based on Aztec mythology to waking up one day to find that Professor X was suddenly Profesor XX [Dos Equis].

[Profesor Dos Equis, The Uncanny Mex Men, and all likenesses thereof are trademarks of Burrito Comics.]

[hawkeyeps]

This looks super lame. I think most people didn't exactly love the VH1 of Dr.Mirage so they have no trouble with them just remaking it. Honestly I enjoyed it and the dynamics with his wife was great character development. How would anyone feel if they just started changing other characters at launch such as Bloodshot, or Archer.

I agree. Changing characters, even characters that I never had a connection to, is something that cheeses me off. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the ocassional costume change or new power, but changing a character's gender is going too far. If Valiant wants a strong female lead, they either need to concentrate on characters like Sandria Darque and Erica Pierce or create new female characters. Changing a character's race or gender always seems like pandering to me. The problem is that most people here can't see past the boobies.

I don't want a rehash of the original Valiant. I did read the original Mirage and enjoyed it, but it doesn't matter to me if Mirage is male or female. While I agree that Dr. Mirage's look is too booby-licious, I have no problem with her being the main character. That said, why do we even need to have the same old characters? In some circumstances it's warranted, but new characters would be refreshing.

And I think there's plenty of people who can't see past Sandra Darque always walking around naked or Erica and her see-thru jumpsuit. Really Valiant? If anything, it's time for a strong woman who is confident enough in her own sexuality that she doesn't have to dress like a "people of Walmart" star.

Otherwise, I'm going to have to start demanding that Jack or Bloodshot start showing up nekkid. Fair is fair.

Erica is far more than see though jammies, and you have to admit Bloodshot's shirt is usually gone pretty quick.

[bygranddesign]

Bloodshot is shirtless all the time

it's part of his costume to be shirtless - he's got a big red blood circle on his chest

And if Shadowman becomes a movie - i'm sure they'll cast someone like the wolf kid from twilight and I think it's in his contract to be shirtless ..lol

[pixierosa]

Bloodshot is shirtless all the time

it's part of his costume to be shirtless - he's got a big red blood circle on his chest

And if Shadowman becomes a movie - i'm sure they'll cast someone like the wolf kid from twilight and I think it's in his contract to be shirtless ..lol

Bloodshot is usually only shirtless b/c parts of him and his shirt have been blown away. Ick.

Let us never speak of "Twilight" again.




Never.

[BugsySig]

The characters don't have to be rehashed. There are plenty of things that can be done to a character to make them new and interesting short of a gender change. Once you change a character's race and/or gender, the character isn't that character anymore. You might as well just come up with a new character.

I don't know, maybe this cheeses me off more than other people because I'm a writer--albeit unpublished--and I'd hate it if someone tampered with one of my creations.

And like I said before, it seems like pandering. Marvel did it in the movies by making Kingpin and Nick Fury African American. Then they did it by making Spider-Man a kid who's African American and Latino. Now Valiant is making Dr. Mirage a woman, repeating what was done to Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica. But why? I think the companies are trying to include minorities, which I appreciate, and widen their audience, which I understand. But they're doing it in a lazy way. Instead of creating new, unique characters who are African American, Latino, female, etc., they're throwing those groups scraps by changing existing characters. Being half Mexican, I would prefer a new superhero based on Aztec mythology to waking up one day to find that Professor X was suddenly Profesor XX [Dos Equis].

[Profesor Dos Equis, The Uncanny Mex Men, and all likenesses thereof are trademarks of Burrito Comics.]

I normally agree with all the points you made (hate 616 Black Nick Fury and gay Ultimate Colossus for example), but the Mirage change doesn't bother me. I'm really not sure why, either. I think as long as the relationship/romance aspect is there in a series, if there is one eventually, then the concept will maintain its integrity.

One reason Marvel does it is that "new" characters don't sell well enough for their taste. So they feel like they have to take an existing character and change them. VALIANT doesn't necessarily have that issue, but they also don't technically have any "existing" characters, just templates to work off of.

Many of those templates were undeveloped to begin with. I can't have an issue with modernizing a character, so I guess if making their universe of IPs more diverse is part of that modernization process, so be it. Lets face it, Jack was basically the only African American character in VH1, though he was Creole, and there were no lead females outside of the Harbinger cast.

[greg]

Otherwise, I'm going to have to start demanding that Jack or Bloodshot start showing up nekkid. Fair is fair.

Bloodshot wasn't even wearing his skin in Bloodshot #1. How much more nekkid does it get?

[Phoenix8008]

Otherwise, I'm going to have to start demanding that Jack or Bloodshot start showing up nekkid. Fair is fair.

Bloodshot wasn't even wearing his skin in Bloodshot #1. How much more nekkid does it get?

And Aric was nekkid and had a scene bathing in a river in the jungle!

The Miles Morales thing ticked me off, but this doesn't for some reason. Maybe like BugsySig said, Marvel had to do it with a big name character to make it matter, and messing with what makes the character work cheesed me off. I guess Dr. Mirage doesn't matter enough to me to get me cheesed off. And as Valiant is all about rebooting and making changes here and there now, it doesn't bug me since it's a reintroduction of a character not used in 20 years. Not like with Spiderman who has been in constant use for 50+ years.

TLDR= The boobies are nice, but they aren't the reason I'm okay with the gender swap.

[Spylocke]

I'm in favor of tweaking a character's race or ethnicity when it's done with respect or is treated as a non-issue.

I don't like homogenous comics but in some instances writers really embarrass themselves trying to be inclusive. Sometimes ignorance is preferable to condescension. Valiant has an edge in that they can mess with their old properties to be more relevant without looking like they are pandering. I don't recall a lot of complaints when Livewire turned up not quite as before.

Identity politics is a dangerous game but I'm in favor of Valiant injecting some diversity into a medium that tilts heavily toward white males. Even as a white guy I get a little tired of reading about the exploits of other white guys.

I don't mind black Livewire or female Dr. Mirage, in fact I think it's pretty cool. Even better if it's done well. A different race or sex on a character can open up different stories and subvert cliches. Making Ninjak Japanese could subvert the "might whitey" trope and avoid Japanese stereotypes by making him British by preference.. Like a reverse weeaboo. Hammerhead from Hard CORPS would be more than a one note character if was black, I think. Any racist comments he makes to Flatline (who I still maintain should be middle-eastern in the reboot) would have a texture to them they wouldn't have otherwise.

Okay, I think I've run this a little too far off the rails. It would be a good topic itself.

In short, my opinion is that I like the look of the new Dr. Mirage even if I find the suit and cleavage distracting.

[Rufusharley]

I'm in favor of tweaking a character's race or ethnicity when it's done with respect or is treated as a non-issue.

I don't like homogenous comics but in some instances writers really embarrass themselves trying to be inclusive. Sometimes ignorance is preferable to condescension. Valiant has an edge in that they can mess with their old properties to be more relevant without looking like they are pandering. I don't recall a lot of complaints when Livewire turned up not quite as before.

Identity politics is a dangerous game but I'm in favor of Valiant injecting some diversity into a medium that tilts heavily toward white males. Even as a white guy I get a little tired of reading about the exploits of other white guys.

I don't mind black Livewire or female Dr. Mirage, in fact I think it's pretty cool. Even better if it's done well. A different race or sex on a character can open up different stories and subvert cliches. Making Ninjak Japanese could subvert the "might whitey" trope and avoid Japanese stereotypes by making him British by preference.. Like a reverse weeaboo. Hammerhead from Hard CORPS would be more than a one note character if was black, I think. Any racist comments he makes to Flatline (who I still maintain should be middle-eastern in the reboot) would have a texture to them they wouldn't have otherwise.

Okay, I think I've run this a little too far off the rails. It would be a good topic itself.

In short, my opinion is that I like the look of the new Dr. Mirage even if I find the suit and cleavage distracting.

Great Great Great post!!!

[Rufusharley]

only one question: what is a "reverse weeaboo"?

[lorddunlow]

only one question: what is a "reverse weeaboo"?

Yeah, what is that?

[Spylocke]

I'm not even sure "reverse weaboo" is a word but a weaboo is someone white who is a fan of Japanese culture to an extreme degree. Picture a white guy constantly wearing a Sailor Moon shirt and peppering his English with Japanese. The reverse would be someone Japanese way into western culture.

I thought Ninjak as a Japanese guy fixated on British culture would be an interesting take. Trained to be a ninja but really wants to be James Bond or John Steed.

[jmatt]

Being half Mexican, I would prefer a new superhero based on Aztec mythology

War Dancer, by Defiant, another defunct Shooter universe.

[jmatt]

Identity politics is a dangerous game but I'm in favor of Valiant injecting some diversity into a medium that tilts heavily toward white males.

Well, VEI was rescued and rebooted by two non-white college kids so I think it's natural that we'd see more diversity in the titles.

[Burrito Boy]

Being half Mexican, I would prefer a new superhero based on Aztec mythology

War Dancer, by Defiant, another defunct Shooter universe.

Yeah. I had a couple issues of War Dancer back in the day. I remember liking it, which makes me wonder why I ever got rid of my copies.

[Shadowman99]

I'm not even sure "reverse weaboo" is a word but a weaboo is someone white who is a fan of Japanese culture to an extreme degree. Picture a white guy constantly wearing a Sailor Moon shirt and peppering his English with Japanese. The reverse would be someone Japanese way into western culture.

I thought Ninjak as a Japanese guy fixated on British culture would be an interesting take. Trained to be a ninja but really wants to be James Bond or John Steed.

Heh, is anyone famliar with the character 'Sodom' from the Street Fighter Alpha series? He's a Japanophile who basically loves Japan and has sort of tried to do his best to pretend to be Japanese by dressing in traditional clothing and using Japanese weapons, but always cocks his phrases up and generally does a comicly badly job of 'being' Japanese.

(From Wikipedia)
"Sodom's victory quotes are composed of seemingly nonsensical English phrases that are really mispronounced Japanese phrases. For example, Sodom would say "Die Job Death Car?" instead of Daijōbu desu ka (大丈夫ですか? - "Are you all right?")"

I'm not sure that this is the type of 'reverse Ninjak' that you want to see is it Spylocke?!

[Spylocke]

Heh, is anyone famliar with the character 'Sodom' from the Street Fighter Alpha series? He's a Japanophile who basically loves Japan and has sort of tried to do his best to pretend to be Japanese by dressing in traditional clothing and using Japanese weapons, but always cocks his phrases up and generally does a comicly badly job of 'being' Japanese.

(From Wikipedia)
"Sodom's victory quotes are composed of seemingly nonsensical English phrases that are really mispronounced Japanese phrases. For example, Sodom would say "Die Job Death Car?" instead of Daijōbu desu ka (大丈夫ですか? - "Are you all right?")"

I'm not sure that this is the type of 'reverse Ninjak' that you want to see is it Spylocke?!

Too bad the word "Anglophile" didn't come to mind when I was writing. Yeah, that's what I meant. The whole "white guy gets trained to be a ninja and excels" is overdone. The whole idea of a ninja/James Bond mash-up would be more interesting with a race tweak. Colin King: Secret Asian. (Sorry, I can't resist a horrible, horrible pun).

A good commentary on racial identity would be more likely done with a minority character. White people who identify with another culture usually fall into two categories: Jokes and saviors, neither of which are particularly compelling as characters.

Sorry for derailing. So...um, how do you think the new Doctor Mirage gets her hair like that? It seems like a really intricate dye job.

[Burrito Boy]

Much as I hate to admit it, being against character changes and all, Colin King: Secret Asian sounds interesting.

How does Dr. Mirage get her hair like that? I've been told that coloring in comics is all done with computers these days.

[Shadowman99]

Much as I hate to admit it, being against character changes and all, Colin King: Secret Asian sounds interesting.

How does Dr. Mirage get her hair like that? I've been told that coloring in comics is all done with computers these days.